American H/T does not fire unless unbuttoned

[Bartokomus]

Like the titles says, and I'm not certain if this is a feature or bug, but American H/T will not fire until they're manually unbuttoned. In BN and FI if you manually assign your H/T a target the gunner/passenger mans the gun and starts firing. Seems like an odd change after all these years. Bug or feature?

[Vanir Ausf B]

Feature. I presume the change will be in the other titles when they are updated.

[womble]

I reckon it's an attempt by BFC to address some of the complaints about survivability of HT gunners. They'll certainly last longer if the default status is "buttoned", after all.

[Bartokomus]

thanks guys, much appreciated. i have mixed feelings about it, but at least i know now.

 

thanks

[Bulletpoint]

Strange way to fix the problem.. Surely when you actively give the order to fire, you want the gunner to actually man the machinegun, accepting the associated risks?

People were not complaining that their gunners were dying in general, they were complaining that they were hit too quickly and too easily. No matter if that complaint was justified or not, I'm not sure what this change does to address it.

[Anthony P.]

IIRC it was clarified somewhere here recently that vehicles where the exposed MG is a secondary weapon will not have crew man it unless told to (w/ an unbutton command), but that they will still man it on their own initiative if they spot an acceptable target if it's the primary weapon, like it is in half-tracks. Of course I'm assuming the chances of actually spotting any targets decrease drastically if the gunner isn't stood up and spotting outside the vehicle.

[Bartokomus]

Anthony i can't say i've seen a HT unbutton once of its own accord in any of the scenarios or campaigns.

[Anthony P.]

I've had it happen a few times, but as I said I'm guessing it's just harder for them to spot anything to engage if they're not standing up.